The Radio 2 DJ said he was ‘thrilled’ to be joining ‘my favourite programme of all time.’

He went on: ‘Created by a host of brilliant minds who love cars and understand how to make the massively complicated come across as fun, devil-may-care and effortless. When in fact of course, it’s anything but and that’s the genius of Top Gear’s global success

‘I promise I will do everything I possibly can to respect what has gone on before and take the show forward.’

The man himself praised the former Top Gear trio on Twitter.

First tweet as new Top Gear host. I would like to say Jeremy, Richard & James are the greatest. And NO I'm not leaving the R2 Breakfast Show